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OUR VIEW: The good and bad for first responders

Published: Monday, April 22, 2013 at 6:20 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, April 22, 2013 at 6:21 p.m.

Last week was about as good and as bad as it gets for first responders — police, fire and emergency medical personnel.

It was hard not to dwell on the scenes of carnage April 15 after two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. However, the countless still and video cameras that documented what happened on Boylston Street that day and, ultimately, helped break the case, didn’t just capture horror. They captured heroism.

Before the smoke cleared, and without pausing to think that more bombs might be about to detonate, many on the scene began tending to the injured. Admittedly this was a perfect situation, with so many first responders and people from the medical field congregated in one place, at the end of a sporting event that’s a brutal physical test. But while there’s no way to document this without looking at roughly 180 sets of medical records, we’d be stunned if that immediate response wasn’t a major reason the death toll was no higher than three.

Law enforcement has gotten deserved praise for its handling of the criminal case and for taking one of the suspects alive, albeit with the loss of one of its own in a gunfight.

What happened in the minutes after the explosions doesn’t need to be forgotten, however, especially in light of “the bad” that happened a little more than 48 hours later and 1,800 miles away.

A fertilizer plant in West, Texas, caught fire April 17. As firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze, the plant exploded with the force of a 2.1-magnitude earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The blast killed at least 14 people, injured about 200 and flattened 150 adjacent buildings. Officials said 10 of those killed were first responders, either firefighters or EMTs.

It’s a reminder of the risks these public servants take every day, that can’t be erased by successes like Boston.

There are cataclysmic events like 9/11, in which more than 400 responders were killed and another 2,000 hurt. There also are tragedies on a smaller scale.

Thirty-eight law enforcement officers across the U.S. have died in the line of duty so far this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page; the toll in 2012 was 120. Eighty-three firefighters across the country were either killed or died of illness while on duty in both 2011 and 2012, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

The Professional Fire Fighters of Alabama and the Alabama Fire College held a media event last week in Birmingham designed to show the public what firefighters do and why they do it. We think that’s a good idea at least for the technical parts of the job.

However, there’s a part of the “why” that no demonstration for any public safety official will ever capture, which shows the kind of special person it takes to be a be a public servant. We saw it last week in Massachusetts and Texas.

<p>Last week was about as good and as bad as it gets for first responders — police, fire and emergency medical personnel.</p><p>It was hard not to dwell on the scenes of carnage April 15 after two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. However, the countless still and video cameras that documented what happened on Boylston Street that day and, ultimately, helped break the case, didn't just capture horror. They captured heroism.</p><p>Before the smoke cleared, and without pausing to think that more bombs might be about to detonate, many on the scene began tending to the injured. Admittedly this was a perfect situation, with so many first responders and people from the medical field congregated in one place, at the end of a sporting event that's a brutal physical test. But while there's no way to document this without looking at roughly 180 sets of medical records, we'd be stunned if that immediate response wasn't a major reason the death toll was no higher than three.</p><p>Law enforcement has gotten deserved praise for its handling of the criminal case and for taking one of the suspects alive, albeit with the loss of one of its own in a gunfight.</p><p>What happened in the minutes after the explosions doesn't need to be forgotten, however, especially in light of “the bad” that happened a little more than 48 hours later and 1,800 miles away.</p><p>A fertilizer plant in West, Texas, caught fire April 17. As firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze, the plant exploded with the force of a 2.1-magnitude earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The blast killed at least 14 people, injured about 200 and flattened 150 adjacent buildings. Officials said 10 of those killed were first responders, either firefighters or EMTs.</p><p>It's a reminder of the risks these public servants take every day, that can't be erased by successes like Boston.</p><p>There are cataclysmic events like 9/11, in which more than 400 responders were killed and another 2,000 hurt. There also are tragedies on a smaller scale.</p><p>Thirty-eight law enforcement officers across the U.S. have died in the line of duty so far this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page; the toll in 2012 was 120. Eighty-three firefighters across the country were either killed or died of illness while on duty in both 2011 and 2012, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.</p><p>The Professional Fire Fighters of Alabama and the Alabama Fire College held a media event last week in Birmingham designed to show the public what firefighters do and why they do it. We think that's a good idea at least for the technical parts of the job.</p><p>However, there's a part of the “why” that no demonstration for any public safety official will ever capture, which shows the kind of special person it takes to be a be a public servant. We saw it last week in Massachusetts and Texas.</p>